Flowers for Hinata
by The Lady of the Willows
Summary: A series of correspondences began after Neji left Hinata in the hospital, yet all the words in the world cannot cure her failing heart. Current Letter: Neji to Himself
1. Letter One: Hinata to Hanabi

**Flowers for Hinata**

Author's Note: The title is after the story Flowers for Algernon, which I have not read in years, but the story named itself in my mind. The plot came from a "what if" idea. The format created itself in my thoughts. The beginning chapters, or "Letters" rather, are short due to the way the plot is. As the story goes on, and people have more time, the letters become longer, but sometimes become short again as fits the plot. Well, please enjoy this little experiment of a story.

* * *

**Letter One**

_Hyuuga Hinata to Hyuuga Hanabi_

My dear sister,

I regret that it took me so long to reply, but I was held up in the hospital as a result of the Preliminary Fights before Part Three of the Chuunin Exams. As of yet, I am unable to write an entire correspondence. I was quite lucky that a friend of mine obliged when I asked a favor of following my dictation.

Do not worry about me. I have confidence in a quick recovery. I spent a week in sleep, which was a good length of time to recover.

Concentrate on your studies and be well.

I shall be seeing you soon.

Your affectionate sister,

Hinata 


	2. Letter Two: Shino to Kiba

**Letter Two**

_Aburame Shino to Inuzaka Kiba_

To Kiba:

Hinata came out of her healing coma and awoke a bit ago. The medics managed to save her, but her breathing still appears erratic. I do not believe she has fully recuperated from the results of her battle with Neji, though her condition has improved.

The scent of blood in her room is thick, even to me without a trained, enhanced nose. She is literally bleeding on the inside, as before. There is a sort of waking horror in the fact that the sterility of the hospital room has been contaminated by the blood from her body and the drugs used to heal. The room is white, as you know, as are the sheets and pillows. It seems a pity to insult it with the crimson fluids she breathes out at times. The blood flows… desecrating her eyes, even. She has not opened her eyes yet. I was unsure of whether this was because she simply cannot or does not wish to, but the doctor claimed it was because she did not wish to. I do not wish to see her white eyes yet, either. I am afraid that I might see her bleeding there as well.

The walls are cold and seem to trap us inside, making us victim of the decisions of the harried doctors and nurses who run the place. I believe that the Noble Clan of Hyuuga will take her away from this place as soon as she is pronounced "stable"--- possibly to keep her inside the clan's compound so that it will be easier to control her. The hospital walls will not hinder her from leaving then, but I fear for her once she has returned to her family grounds; the cousin who caused her such injury lives there, as all her relatives do. Her safety may be at risk. After all, did we not see for ourselves numerous times how little worth the Hyuuga's place upon their daughter? But we are powerless in that regard.

She was well enough to dictate and sign a short letter before lying down and just breathing. The fresh bloodstains from a recent coughing fit were still on her blanket. I have rarely felt this deep disgust for blood before.

I am afraid this missive has been drawn out too long. It was intended to be a simple message informing you of the progress in Hinata's situation. It may be best if you come and see for yourself.

Shino


	3. Letter Three: Neji to Hinata

**Letter Three**

_Hyuuga Neji to Hyuuga Hinata_

Dear Cousin,

Your sister, Hanabi, requested that I write this letter to you, so I am writing it. Do not expect this to be long, as I have little intention of wasting my strength on penning a long letter for your benefit and/or pleasure.

You had no inquiries, but your sister demands that I reply to your unasked questions, so I do so with the following:

Your sister is well, in case you might ask how she is.

Your sister is doing well in her studies, in case you might wonder.

Your sister has learned how to activate the Hyuuga Cursed Seal, in case you might be perplexed at how she forced me to write this at all.

Your sister wrote the last letters to you by herself, in case you might question whether or not she truly wrote them.

Your sister is still in the Main House, to be pampered and cared for by her family. And to be a living insult to me.

As an afternote, I hope that you understand the meaning of fate now. It was fate that your sister would come to me and attempt to order, blackmail, and then torture me into writing this message. So, I had to write it. It was fate that you lost. So, you lost. Fate commands all of our hands, and you would do well to remember that in the future.

On a personal note, I hope that you will include a line in your next letter to your sister asking that she not reply for at least the next month. I will be busy preparing for the Third Part of the Chuunin Exams and have little time for such paltry tasks as letter-writing.

H. N.


	4. Letter Four: Hiashi to Hospital

**Letter Four**

_Hyuuga Hiashi to the Hospital_

To All Whom It May Concern:

I am writing to request the release of my daughter, Hyuuga Hinata, to the Hyuuga Clan. We will come to pick her up at a predetermined time that is convenient for both parties.

Thank you for your prompt assistance.

Sincerely,

Hyuuga Hiashi


	5. Letter Five: Tenten to Neji

**Letter Five**

_Tenten to Hyuuga Neji_

Dear Neji,

I know that you have some sort of secret contempt for Lee and me, but please respond to this, at the very least.

That having been said, Lee is still in the hospital. I do not believe they can cure his leg and arm. He will no longer be able to live as a ninja. I know that you will go into one of your lectures about fate and destiny and life and the Main House… but Lee does not deserve that. He tried very hard for what he believed in. You have not been by to see him at all. I think we would both like it if you could just take a break from your intense training and see him. Just for an hour or so.

He has suffered a terrible blow from this. He can no longer follow his dreams of being a ninja. Of course, the medical experts say nothing about the hopelessness of the situation to us, children, but I know from the way they walk when they enter and exit his room, falsely smiling, falsely hoping…

I have been wondering about how your cousin is… the one you fought in the Chuunin Preliminaries. She was removed from the hospital three days ago, or so we were told. I got into the habit of dropping by her room once in a while. The Jounin in charge of Team 8, Yuuhi Kurenai, seemed very vexed whenever I passed her. One of her two teammates, the Aburame or the Inuzaka, was almost always around, waiting for her to regain consciousness. If not one of the boys, then her instructor was asking for an update on Hinata's condition.

Seeing that strong bond of their team made me want to ask you questions that I have wondered for so long. Why can you not trust Lee or me in the way they trust each other? I was almost touched to tears at how devoted they were to their companion. I wished that our team were like that. While our instructor, Gai, and Lee may hug each other as though they were the best of friends, you ignore it, thinking them bizarre in appearance and behavior. While Lee and I may train against each other, trying to learn from each other, you ignore us, thinking us below you in level and skill. While Gai and I… does it matter, even? Will you even read this far?

Lee and I both know--- all of us know--- that you tried to kill her. Can you not trust her? Can you not forgive her? Can you not forget the inner conflict that leads you to be so cold? We try so hard to gain your trust or friendship, yet you always push us away. Is your personal vendetta against the "Main House" so strong that you must try to kill your cousin just for the symbolism it signifies? Give her a chance… give Lee a chance… give me a chance… we try to reach out to you so often.

I cannot claim I know your cousin, Hinata, very well, but from what I have seen, she is gentle and kind. She has never wished ill on anyone or done harm. For what reason must such a benevolent person be tormented by your inner indecisive agony, Neji?

Anyways, as extra incentive to come visit Lee and me in the hospital tomorrow, I have gathered some extra information on your opponent for the Third Part of the Exams. Uzumaki Naruto, correct? The loud, blue-eyed blond with whisker-marks on his face? He left a while ago with Ebisu, the famed trainer, but seems to have abandoned that teacher in favor of another. Or if the information I can provide is not motivation enough, just come. For your teammates.

Nearly all the others in the competition are as eager as you are. The Uchiha boy has disappeared, most likely with his Jounin instructor, to train. The Genin who controlled shadows and won against the Sound female has been training daily with one of his teammates, always taking his partner to gorge on food at a Barbeque restaurant at some point. The Aburame has been almost untraceable, even by gossip. The Sound ninja just vanished. The Sand ninja seem not to even care about the competition and are frightfully confident. I know they are very skilled, having met one myself and lost miserably, but I find it strange that they just sit around inside all the time without going outside.

But they spend time with their team once in a while!

I know I have gotten very repetitive, and I am sorry for that.

Please, consider all I have written.

Your friend and teammate,

Tenten

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Author's Note: All right... a few things since some people seem to be lost. This story starts a week after the Chuunin Preliminaries, assuming that Hinata was in a coma for a week. This entire story is made up of letters to and from various characters and revolves mainly around the relationship between Hinata and Neji. I chose to write it all in letters, because you can learn a lot about people from how they write. For example, Hiashi's letter was concise and formal, Hinata's showed she was still polite and caring even though she just awoke from a long sleep, and so on and so forth. That is also why I said, at the beginning, that letters could be short for plot reasons. 

To Firenze2000: If you mean, is he withdrawing her from the hospital because he loves her, not precisely...


	6. Letter Six: Neji to Neji

**Letter Six**

_Hyuuga Neji to Hyuuga Neji_

Dear Neji,

I write to myself, so that I may read this again in the future in case I may wish to be refreshed on certain occurrences. This letter is written approximately ten or eleven days after the Preliminaries for the Third Part of the Chuunin Exams.

After Tenten wrote me a rather pathetic letter with a disgusting display of sensitivity and emotion I would normally expect from Lee and Gai, I took it upon myself to take a bit of time away from my valuable training to see Lee. I will write of my thoughts on the parts concerning my dear, beloved cousin, Hinata, later.

They were surprised to see me at first. Both my teammates gaped at me for a moment, feeling shocked that I, Hyuuga Neji, had felt it appropriate to spend a few moments with them instead of training. The female with two buns on her head closed her mouth abruptly and stood up from the position she had been in previously, leaning over Lee. The green-clad boy was lying on a bed, looking sad. One of his arms was wrapped with bandages as far as I could see with usual sight. I have little doubt that if I had searched further down with my Byakugan, I would have seen his entire crushed limb wrapped in that white.

I did not feel sorry for him.

My female teammate, on the other hand, was very worried.

I do not see why she had such behavior.

Rock Lee chose to defy Fate. For that ill-made decision, he was receiving the wages.

I stayed long enough for the visit to seem appropriately long before leaving for the Hyuuga compound. I said nothing to either of them the entire time, and they said nothing to me. Sometimes, they surprise me properly. I did not bother to ask for the "extra information incentive" on Naruto that Tenten offered, because it was likely it would be something useless, such as what he eats or what he wears. I cannot expect any better of them, though.

I returned to my residence and heard coughing when going through the halls. It was the Hyuuga heiress. The dear and coddled Hinata whom everyone seems to think I victimize for no reason. I merely fought her as expected to. Another Genin, called Subaku no Gaara, fought as he was expected to, and only Gai stopped him. For the battle between my cousin and I, no less than four Jounins came down to stop the fight. They were Maito Gai, my Jounin instructor, Yuuhi Kurenai, Hinata's Jounin instructor, Hatake Kakashi, the Copy Nin, and Sarutobi Asuma, the Jounin instructor of the latest Shika-Ino-Cho team.

Tenten knows nothing of the secrets the Hyuuga clan possesses. We are an ancient clan, also the "noblest and oldest family in Konoha". Every clan has their own secrets and, more often than not, every person in a clan has a few of his own secrets.

Mine is not so much of a secret as a grudge I keep alive to fuel my strength. My father was killed by Hinata and the Main House. She killed him indirectly. If she had not been so weak as to let herself be captured and almost kidnapped by the Cloud ninja who had come, Hyuuga Hizashi would not have died. It was after the Cloud's champion was killed that they demanded the body of the Hyuuga leader. Cowardly and weak to the last, Hiashi let his younger twin brother die in his place. This is a story I cannot tired of telling and retelling, if only to myself. It provides the need for revenge I have.

My original intention was not to injure her so badly. It was after she stubbornly refused to yield the fight that I started fighting.

As soon as she entered the area, my attention was on her and only her. If I have ever paid attention to anyone, it has been her. I spoke for a while, trying to convince her to leave and yield the fight to me. She refused. I knew that I would win.

"You are too kind," I remarked, reminding her of her weakness--- the reason she would never be able to be a good ninja or defeat me.

"Your painful past," I continued, telling her why she will not rise beyond her fate.

She tried to distance herself from me, or wanted to. I know, because she touched her lips with her hand. It angered me for reasons I cannot tell. The fight had not begun, and she had already assumed the defensive stance of trying to keep me away from her emotions. I know her best of all people, in history, in personality.

We fought.

I did not bother to use any particularly difficult moves. We were constantly in contact with each other. It was basic and intimate. It was our personal conflict brought to physical reality. And almost the entire time, we kept our eyes on each other. At one point, I drew up her sleeve to show her how I had hit the tenketsus and stopped the flow of chakra. I think some people were surprised at how I was undressing her, but we were comfortable enough with each other to allow me to do that.

We continued fighting.

Just before the end of the battle, she said that it is me who is lost and suffering. It angered me to no describable extent.

I will confess that for one stark moment, I thought I could alter Fate by killing Hinata or disabling her so that she would be unable to fight thereafter. This is because she is the symbol of the Main House. They put seals on our foreheads in an attempt to suppress our power because they fear us in the face of their own weakness. Eliminating the heiress would have been the first step… but I altered the position of my hand to lessen the blow as I hit her heart.

I could not kill her.

I will make myself strong enough to triumph over the Uzumaki Naruto my cousin dotes on so much, and then I will resign myself to my sworn duty of protecting the heiress, Hinata, content in the knowledge that I am still better.

I can write no further. This very topic repulses me.

Neji


End file.
